A Pilot of Aptitude Testing for University Entrance Angus S. McDonald Paul E. Newton Chris Whetton with an appendix by Samantha E. Higgs Contents List of tables List of figures Executive summary 6 Background 8 Introduction 8 Goals of the present study 11 Methodology 13 Samples 13 Materials 13 Results 15 Response rates 15 Treatment of data 15 Descriptive statistics 17 Multilevel modelling - overview 25 Multilevel modelling - findings 26 Analysis of SAT functioning 36 Conclusions 41 References 44 Appendix 1: Score distributions of main study variables 45 Appendix 2: Classification of universities and colleges 49 Appendix 3: Details of multilevel modelling 50 Appendix 4: Item functioning data (IRT analysis) 70 Appendix 5: Item functioning data (classical test analysis) 74 List of Tables Table 1: Number of schools returning completed materials, and number of students meeting minimum data requirements 15 Table 2: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by sample 17 Table 3: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by sex 18 Table 4: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by ethnicity 19 Table 5: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by parental socio-economic status 20 Table 6: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by intentions at the end of current course 21 Table 7: GCSE, A-level and SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by classification of universities and colleges 23 Table 8: Correlations of GCSE, predicted and attained A-levels, SAT I: Reasoning Test scores and socio-economic status by sample 25 Table 9: SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by GCSE grade bands and sample 28 Table 10: SAT I: Reasoning Test scores by A-level grade bands and sample 29 Table 11: Percentage of students above selection thresholds 31 Table 12: Cronbach's alpha reliabilities for the SAT I: Reasoning Test 37 Table 13: Correlations between IRT parameters in British and American students 38